


Cooking

by meils121



Category: Leverage
Genre: Comfort Food, Cooking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25907110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meils121/pseuds/meils121
Summary: Eliot makes stew on days when he has time.  The hours that stew requires are a nice reminder that sometimes he does have time to savor life rather than rush through it.  So on weekends when he’s got an afternoon to devote to cooking, he puts on some music and gets to work.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31
Collections: The Leverage Exchange Master Collection





	Cooking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [siehn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/siehn/gifts).



Eliot makes stew on days when he has time. The hours that stew requires are a nice reminder that sometimes he does have time to savor life rather than rush through it. So on weekends when he’s got an afternoon to devote to cooking, he puts on some music and gets to work.

Chopping meat and mincing vegetables might be tedious to some people, but not Eliot. He enjoys the steady thunk of his knife hitting the wooden cutting board. Sophie once suggested it’s like his way of meditating, and she might not be all that far off. He likes cooking, likes knowing that he’s using a knife this way and not a way that could hurt someone else. Stew is for days when there isn’t a job to pull or plan for, for when life is calm and things feel like they’re going to be okay. That’s when he makes stew.

Adding the spices is Eliot’s favorite part of making stew. He loves how that just instantly adds warmth and depth and meaning to the stew. He loves taking a deep breath in, smelling the pepper and parsley and garlic and thyme. The beef cooking, the onions starting to get that caramelized look and scent to them. Sometimes - when he’s feeding Hardison, which is more often than not nowadays - he’ll mix things up a little. Today, he’s adding an Irish beer to the stew and making cheddar-herb biscuits that are sure to be a new favorite. 

Stew takes time. It doesn’t require a ridiculous amount of effort or work, just time to cook and simmer and for all those flavors to seep into the meat and vegetables. Making stew also means an afternoon to laze around the house, close enough to stir every so often. 

Hardison is often the first to arrive, mid-afternoon, drawn from across the brew pub by the scent. And where Hardison goes, Parker isn’t far behind. Sometimes it takes Nate and Sophie a little longer to arrive, but eventually they’ll settle in as well. Nate will turn on whatever game happens to be playing and they’ll knock back a beer or two. Parker will settle in on her counter-top perch near where Eliot cooks, happy to close her eyes and nap while she waits for food. Sophie, meanwhile, will pour herself a glass of wine and, inevitably, try to convince the rest of them to at least turn to a cricket match every once in a while. 

Eliot likes days when he makes stew. Those - those are good days.

Eliot makes brownies on days when things go bad. Brownies are quick, easy - a recipe he knows by heart and a food that he knows will ease some of the day’s pain. Things don’t always go right, and that’s just life. It still hurts, though.

So Eliot will clean his bloody knuckles and make sure Hardison has stopped begging a long-dead laptop to come back to life and head to the kitchen. Parker typically follows him. For a long time, she didn’t like to be around them when things didn’t go well. Now, she can’t be alone. Parker will settle in her spot and Eliot will pull ingredients out of what Parker has dubbed his “bad day cabinet”. Cocoa powder, chocolate chips, hot fudge (his secret ingredient for making the best brownies in town) all get added. Parker gets to lick the bowl while Eliot gets the pan into the oven. 

While they wait the forty or so minutes it takes for the brownies to bake, they regroup. Sophie fusses over anyone who’s hurt - typically Eliot, but he can’t be everywhere at once and sometimes the others have to fight their way out. At least Parker has her taser and a mean punch. Nate is often quiet, running through what happened in his head as he considers how to modify the plan for next time, how to ensure that this particular scenario doesn’t happen again. Early on, he would be beating himself up for failing them. Now, he knows enough to know that sometimes, things just happen. Hardison spends the time putting away equipment, fitting each little piece into their cases, ready for the next job. 

When the brownies come out of the oven, they never seem to bother with plates or even to let them cool. Eliot brings out forks and a can of whipped cream for Parker (because her sweet tooth is never quite satisfied) and they eat straight from the pan. There’s something about gooey, too-hot brownies that’s healing to the soul, Eliot thinks. 

On days that are just - days, normal, boring sort of days, Eliot explores. Some days he has hours, others just enough time to whip something up quickly. He tests new recipes for the brew pub and tries out specialty burgers and figures out what desserts he can make that pair nicely with Hardison’s new line of dessert craft beers. He makes spaghetti and mac and cheese and tries recipes from places he’s been to before but spent most of that time taking down dictators rather than trying local cuisine. 

Normal days are nice. The brew pub will fill up, not just with his team but with customers and wait staff. The hum of happy voices is nice to hear, a reminder that there is life beyond the jobs they pull. 

Eliot likes normal days. They never get too many of them, not in a row, but that’s okay because Eliot likes exciting days too. He likes coming back to the brew pub after a successful job and knowing that the kitchen and wait staff have kept things running. He likes sitting down sometimes and eating something that he didn’t create, likes tasting spices that he wouldn’t have thought of or a pairing that is both strange and delicious. 

In the end, though, Eliot likes cooking because it means he’s here and alive and at least mostly in one piece. It means his team is safe and happy. So Eliot cooks and takes down bad guys and runs the brew pub’s kitchen and things are good.


End file.
